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Does anyone test for Covid anymore?

(204 Posts)
dragonfly46 Thu 24-Oct-24 09:41:31

I have just had Covid again for the third time. I know it was Covid because as soon as I started to have symptoms I tested. The first test was negative but the second a day later was positive. I then stayed at home until I was clear.

I keep hearing about friends and acquaintances saying they have had really bad colds etc but never a thought of isolating or testing.

I had to miss a few events I was really looking forward to. How can I avoid getting it again if everyone just goes out and about without testing?

Sorry to sound such a grouch but it would seem Covid isn’t going away despite having all the injections.

Farzanah Thu 24-Oct-24 11:50:58

I have had Covid for the last 10 days and have been, and am feeling quite ill, and a bit of a cold it certainly isn’t. The cough is persisting and I have lost half a stone. I will isolate until I test negative. Spent £20 on tests already. I can see why people don’t bother, but I think it is selfish because there is likely to be an increase in hospital admissions from covid this winter, with older and vulnerable people disproportionately affected. The NHS is in a poor state already.

I’m amazed when I’ve visited in hospital to see that nurses are still wearing the flimsy, ineffective blue masks, if wearing masks at all!

Marydoll Thu 24-Oct-24 11:51:00

I do. If I catch Covid, I have to have an infusion of anti virals.

PamelaJ1 Thu 24-Oct-24 11:53:38

I work in close contact with people who have or are living with
family who have health issues.
Recently I spent a holiday with family who tested positive for Covid when they got home. They thought they ‘had a bit of a bug’ whilst we were away.
I didn’t catch it but warned all my clients that I might have done. My mum,96, did get it but was fine.
Some of my clients were happy to come in some weren’t. I think they were glad they had been warned.
I tested every morning for a week.

Aveline Thu 24-Oct-24 11:54:16

I tested while having a horrible bug but our test kits were out of date. New packs are £9 from Boots. PS I tested negative.

Lovemylife Thu 24-Oct-24 12:18:25

Probably wouldn’t test, but do keep away from others if I have a cold. And certainly wouldn’t go near anyone vulnerable with even a slight sniffle.

gulligranny Thu 24-Oct-24 12:32:15

Yes we still test if we have symptoms, but so far we've been negative every time. If we're feeling unwell we don't go out anyway, just hunker down with supermarket home delivery until we are better.

Visgir1 Thu 24-Oct-24 12:44:00

Baggs

Nope. It is no longer required where I work even though it is an organisation caring for, among others, clinically vulnerable old people.

There have been zero problems. Nobody has been diagnosed with covid amongst our clients.

There were no problems "during" the pandemic either when we were testing like billyo.

I have heard that PCR tests are not very good anyway and often pick up other similar viruses. Sounds like a money-making doobry to me.

Tiley... I work in the NHS we don't go in if we feel rough.
I wouldn't think I had Covid. Just common sense if I feel grotty I just wouldn't go out or into work.

Shel69 Thu 24-Oct-24 12:52:21

Yes we test in our household basically because what may be mild for us could be life threatening for someone else

AreWeThereYet Thu 24-Oct-24 13:32:46

We don't test anymore. If there was an upsurge reported we may revert to wearing masks in crowded spaces other than that it is here to stay like colds and flu.

If either of us felt ill we probably just wouldn't go out (neither of us has to go to work any more) until we felt fitter.

Don't assume that anyone coughing or sneezing has some infectious disease. I was recently treated to the evil eye by a woman in a cafe for having a sneezing fit. It was her musky, clingy perfume as she passed me that set me off and made me feel quite grotty.

M0nica Thu 24-Oct-24 14:32:20

DH did a COVID test when on holiday, last week, when he started to go down with a respiratory infection. He tested negative.

seadragon Thu 24-Oct-24 15:53:28

I thought I had Hay Fever because of coughing and constant sneezing till neighbour said her DD was off school with Covid Both tested positive and we're more ill than 2 previous bouts and had brain fog and debility for a while after for the first time. Horrid! Think we had RSV - a kind of flu - so we both have had, not only RSV vax but also Shingles with Vivid back scheduled for December! We don't want to be that ill again....

seadragon Thu 24-Oct-24 15:58:31

Problems with Preview so Vivid back should read Covid vac!

Norah Thu 24-Oct-24 16:12:02

Yes, we test if we feel poorly.

cc Thu 24-Oct-24 16:17:48

I've just had a bad cold too and it is only now, two weeks later, when I still have problems that I am wondering if it was actually Covid. I must admit that I tend to stay away from people when I have a cold in any case, but not everybody bothers to do that.

CariadAgain Thu 24-Oct-24 16:30:59

I've never tested because:
1. There still aren't acceptable means of testing - it's always been/still is a case of stick something down your throat or up your nose and either way it's unpleasant. Have not heard of a spit test being available still - though it was mentioned some time back.

2. The tests don't work anyway. They've been done on various things and came up with a positive result and only a few days ago someone had tested some different berries and they tested positive.

BlueBelle Thu 24-Oct-24 16:35:17

I ve had Covid twice, then got very poorly a few weeks ago much worse than the two Covid times
I tested inconclusive then it came up negative but feel 100% sure it was Covid My daughter-in-law law (in another country) tested positive my son had all the same symptoms as her but tested negative I think it’s very hit and miss now with all the different strains
The tests I bought were expensive I won’t bother in future, however I always stay home if I m unwell and very conscious of not passing it on to anyone else (Ive had all my jabs)

BlueBelle Thu 24-Oct-24 16:36:50

The test is not the least bit unpleasant Cariad
Why do they test berries ???

CariadAgain Thu 24-Oct-24 16:42:19

BlueBelle

The test is not the least bit unpleasant Cariad
Why do they test berries ???

A variety of things - other than people - have been tested since these tests came out. If these tests worked for diagnosing = they wouldnt work on anything else. They've been tested deliberately on "anything else" to see if they still came up with a positive result - and sometimes they did. Thus proving they aren't effective Covid tests for people. I've read all the technical gist of just how "low the bar was set" as well on them - so they would often work even when Covid wasnt present.

Mollygo Thu 24-Oct-24 16:50:03

But for all those who tested positive and actually had Covid, they were effective. And who’s to know whether or not berries or anything else can carry Covid?
Sometimes tests don’t work -even pregnancy tests, but that’s no reason for dismissing them all, especially if you’re anti whatever is involved.
The person who gave us our second dose of Covid-milder because we were vaccinated, was an ardent anti-Vaxer and did not test. He declared his illness was flu. Later that year had time off work because he claimed he had . . . Long Covid.

spottybook Thu 24-Oct-24 17:08:40

I think if some families are struggling to put food on the table then they won’t be buying covid tests.

Esmay Thu 24-Oct-24 17:28:22

I dread getting yet another chest infection .
If I get one I'll test for covid .
Today , I bought lots of disposable face masks -they were on sale .
I wear them on the bus .

Cossy Thu 24-Oct-24 17:38:12

Yes, we still test, because my husband visits his Mum in residential care and our daughter, living with us, is a primary school teacher

Cossy Thu 24-Oct-24 17:39:47

But I’ll be honest, we wouldn’t go visiting or ask people here if any of us had contagious diseases/viruses!

M0nica Thu 24-Oct-24 17:48:32

CariadAgain

BlueBelle

The test is not the least bit unpleasant Cariad
Why do they test berries ???

A variety of things - other than people - have been tested since these tests came out. If these tests worked for diagnosing = they wouldnt work on anything else. They've been tested deliberately on "anything else" to see if they still came up with a positive result - and sometimes they did. Thus proving they aren't effective Covid tests for people. I've read all the technical gist of just how "low the bar was set" as well on them - so they would often work even when Covid wasnt present.

Cariadagain Plese could you give us links to the 'technical gist' that you read.

I assume they are peer-reviewed articles in accredited scientific journals, so will be easy to trace, link and post on this thread.

CariadAgain Thu 24-Oct-24 18:02:52

Not my definition of "easy to trace" to go back through pages and pages and pages and pages of the local Anti-Lockdown group I got asked to lead - and a lot of us did duly put up those links and some of them managed to remain intact...rather than Facebook censoring them off (even though many of them were by doctors and the like - but sometimes even the medics ones got censored off...